Re: don't think CJAT is a related issue

In most of the cases I have personal knowledge of where people have stopped posting, including in my own, it has been because they are too busy with their off-line lives. The more full and fulfilling your life, the less of a impetus there is to keep up with this kind of forum. It probably wouldn't be this way if we were able to be a real community that could honestly and openly share about what's going on in our lives. But we can't do that for safety reasons. So, we get busy, we move on, and we pop our head in here once in a while to let someone who isn't there yet know that there is a light at the end and you can live a happy life as a Christian BL.

But why aren't there new people? I don't know. Maybe online forums aren't the best format anymore. Maybe people are seeking out and making connections with other like-minded individuals online some other way these days. Maybe the offline network of friendships that was initially created through the internet is now strong enough that people move from online friendships to offline friendships very quickly and that doesn't leave much room for the in-between, meaning the middleman (this forum) has been cut out.

I'm not saying that there isn't a lot of persecution and that the latest witch-hunts haven't had an effect. I'm just pointing out that there are also many positive things that may have contributed to the decline of this forum and others like it.

As for my opinion on whether it is time to fold or not, my opinion is that it depends. We haven't paid our bills in a long time. How much grace will our hosts give us? As long as this is a low traffic forum that isn't really costing anyone much, then the cost is low enough to keep it going even if it only helps out a handful of people a year. But if it's costing people resources, then surely there are better investments.